What is an influencer? Well, you wouldn’t need to call on Komodo for the obvious answer. Defining an influencer as an internet-based personality who has an audience they can (say it with me) influence is easy enough. It’s even getting more obvious that online celebrities are excellent at directing their followers’ purchasing power, because their audiences are basically ready-made buyer personas. According to Influencer Marketing Hub (the name speaks for itself), the value of these modern marketers is set to grow to over $13 billion in 2021. Now, of course, this would be impossible if brands weren’t learning about the huge numbers of eyes influencers can draw to their products. 

Influencers can do this because they have uniquely specific audiences (which is how they make those organic buyer personas I mentioned earlier). A creator could set themselves up within a scene such as gaming, tech, or business tips. Fashion, travel, and lifestyle are our specialities, but no matter what, influencers usually accumulate their admirers inside their chosen niche. In fact, when promoting a specific brand/product, a smaller influencer who knows their audience might be more efficient than somebody with millions of followers. 

Understanding this is pretty vital, whether you’re a brand, an upcoming internet personality, or just a social media enthusiast. Traditional celebrities (film stars, sports icons) are mainstream advertising mainstays, but this is completely separate from the recent rise of the relatability market. Influencers, as Melody Nouri puts it, are the much-needed ‘online celebrities to whom consumers can relate’, meaning brands have to choose with care when promoting their products.

Relatability, then, is integral to defining influencers. In addition, this definition must account for how younger people have always found influencers to be especially relatable. Even back in 2015, media outlets were reporting Defy Media’s survey finding that 63% of people under 25 found products and brands more appealing when recommended by a YouTuber. Don’t worry, though – this is changing, especially thanks to the pandemic. Baby boomers, for example, are really warming up to social media, so influencers clearly have a greater reach than ever. 

So, what can you do with this information? We understand influencers as internet-based celebrities (or micro-celebrities) who have gathered an audience by producing/discussing content inside a certain niche. This relatability creates what’s called a ‘parasocial relationship’ between creators and their followers, which is when fans feel like they really know their favourite influencers. Relationships like these are also why brands who want to approach influencers should always do their research. Emailing the most popular influencer you can find might seem obvious, but there are other questions to answer first: Which platform is right for you? Is this influencer good for your public image? Is a bigger audience always better? Which influencers has the audience you need to reach? Ultimately, what is a social media influencer, and what can they offer? The answers might surprise you.

Mediakix outline their “Standard Terminology in Influencer Marketing (STIM)” by setting up an influencer hierarchy based on Instagram follower count. This goes all the way from nano-influencers (1,000-10,000 followers) to mega-influencers (1,000,000+ followers), and they’ve also designed tiers for other platforms. We’ll talk more about this later, but in general, bigger audiences provide wider reach. However, smaller audiences encourage greater engagement. Luckily for you, understanding, finding, and choosing influencers isn’t something you need to do alone. Komodo represents influencers across every tier who operate on a variety of platforms.  With all that said, I’ve answered the questions you came here for – now let my team do the rest!